On The Study Of Zhou Zuoren’s Classic Chinese Poems

Zhou Zuoren (1885-1967), who was born in Shaoxing,Zhejiang Province,was originally named Kuishou. His courtesy name is Xingshuo and pseudonyms are Xiashou, Zhongmi,Qiming,etc.He was also called Qiming,Qimeng and was self called Zhitang and Yaotang.He is a famous modern essayist,literary theorist,critic,poet, translator,a pioneer of the study of Chinese folklore and one of the outstanding representative of May Fourth New Culture (New Literature) Movement. Since his childhood,he began to learn to write classic Chinese poems.There were two periods that Zhou created many classical Chinese poems. These poems are the testimony of his soul in the special dates. Describing his spontaneous feelings, his classic Chinese poems show unique features in the history of Chinese modern poetry. This paper will discuss his personal life and closely read his poems, trying to explore the values of Zhou Zuoren’s classic Chinese poems.In the introduction, it will discuss the importance of studying on classic Chinese poems and current researches on classic poems written by modern Chinese writers. Then it will outline Zhou Zuoren’s classic Chinese poems and introduce the methods of the research.The first chapter will discuss the history of Zhou Zuoren’s classic poem writing. It can be divided into four periods:before May Fourth Movement, between May Fourth Movement and end of anti-Japanese War, staying in prison after the war, and after his release. It will analyze the number of classic Chinese poems Zhou Zuoren wrote during the four periods, their features and reasons of writing in detail,trying to draw a whole picture of Zhou Zuoren’s writing of classic Chinese poems.The second chapter is on the ideological implications of Zhou Zuoren’s classic Chinese poems. As the main part of this article, it will be divided into four sections. The first section is called "the old apprehension". It will analyze the poems based on the connotation of the image of water, enlightenment and revolution, the public and seclusion, discussing Zhou’s thinking and attitude in his classic Chinese poems. The second section is called "his thought of betrayal". It will explore the reasons and mental transmutation of Zhou’s betrayal which are reflected in his classic Chinese poems. Zhou’s betrayal was not happened overnight, but after a time of hesitation and repeatedly struggling. Finally he decided to"make suicide to serve the tiger". During the late time of the war and the days in prison, Zhou Zuoren wrote class Chinese poems to describe his complex emotions. In his poems, he self implicated the political correction of his betrayal, showed sympathy to the people’s tragic life, and regretted and annoyed his actions.Those feelings are mixed in his classic Chinese poems.The third section will discuss how the the humanitarian,the spirit Zhou consistently insisted in his life, is reflected in his classic Chinese poems. The first fact is his promotion of scientific sex concept. The second one is the concern about the fate and the situation of women, which can be found through the content like encouraging the nature of the children and respect and care for women. The third one is his paramount depiction of folk custom,which includes traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, flowery papers, kites, ghost drama in countryside and songs. The last one is his recalling of the past, In his poems, he mainly discussed the ancient poets such as Li Bai, Fan Li, Du Fu and their lives, often revealing his unique viewpoint. Besides, he recalled his personal life of childhood. Moreover, he also expressed his feelings on life.The third chapter discusses the aesthetic features of Zhou’s classic Chinese poems. Zhou chose to write classic Chinese poems for three reasons:excellent study on ancient Chinese literature, balanced spirit, and verse itself. He preferred five-character verses and seven-character verses. According to Zhou Zuoren, he learned from Monk Zhiming for five-character verses and from Monk Hanshan for seven-character verses. The five-character verses are "simple and straightforwardly sincere."; seven-character verses are "concise but bitter in meaning". In different periods, his choice of the two forms are not the same. It shows that he used different forms to highlight the ideology, content, and emotion.